Quintet (stylized as QUINTET) is a Japanese submission grappling promotion created by mixed martial artist Kazushi Sakuraba that uses a 5-on-5, winner-stays-on format. It debuted on April 11, 2018 on UFC Fight Pass.
Sakuraba developed Quintet with former UFC champion Josh Barnett. In July 2017, while in Las Vegas, Sakuraba pitched the concept of Quintet to Ant Evans, the content officer for UFC Fight Pass. Evans worked with Sakuraba to further develop the concept before ultimately signing Quintet to a long-term deal with UFC Fight Pass.
Contents
Rules
Fight mat
In Quintet, bouts take place on a 12-meter by 12-meter (39 ft) square wrestling mat with no line boundaries. If the fighters move too close to the edge of the mat, the referee stops the bout and restarts it in a safe area of the mat with the fighters assuming the same positions they were in when the bout was stopped.
Winner-Stays-On System
The match begins with a bout between two fighters, one from each team. The winner fights the next fighter from the opposing team. If the bout ends in a draw, both fighters are removed and the next fighter from each team enters the mat to grapple. If the last fighter on a team loses their bout, that team loses. If a bout between both teams’ last fighters ends in a draw, whichever team had the fewest cumulative penalties throughout all of the bouts wins. If both teams have an equal number of penalties, the referees determine the winning team based on which fighter in the final bout was most aggressive.
Weight
The total weight of all five fighters on a team must be below the weight class limit as measured one day before the event.
Time Limits
Each bout consists of one 8-minute round if the fighters are close in weight. If the difference in the fighters’ weights is more than 20 kilograms (44 lb) in the Regular class or 10 kilograms (22 lb) in the Lightweight class, the lighter fighter may choose between an 8- or 4-minute round.
Events
Quintet 1
Quintet 1 was a team grappling event held by Quintet on April 11, 2018, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet Fight Night 1
Quintet Fight Night 1 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on June 9, 2018, at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet 2
Quintet 2 was a team grappling event held by Quintet on July 16, 2018, at the Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet 3
Quintet 3 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on October 5, 2018, at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, USA.
Quintet Fight Night 2
Quintet Fight Night 2 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on February 3, 2019, at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet Fight Night 3
Quintet Fight Night 3 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on April 7, 2019, at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi in Tokyo, Japan. It was the first Quintet event to feature women's grappling.
Quintet Fight Night 4
Quintet Fight Night 4 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on November 30, 2019, at the Akita City Cultural Center in Akita, Japan.
Quintet Ultra
Quintet Ultra was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on December 12, 2019, at the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas, USA. This event was based around teams representing four MMA promotions: the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, and World Extreme Cagefighting. Participants were selected based on how closely linked their careers were to those promotions.
Quintet Fight Night 5
Quintet Fight Night 5 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on October 27, 2020, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet Fight Night 6
Quintet Fight Night 6 was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on March 12, 2021, at the Ex Theater Roppongi in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet Fight Night 7
Quintet Fight Night 7 was a lightweight team grappling survival event held by Quintet on July 13, 2021, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
Quintet 4
QUINTET.4 ReBOOT (also known as ReBOOT ~ QUINTET.4 or Quintet 4) is a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on September 10, 2023, at the Yokohama Arena in Tokyo, Japan. It is part of a larger collaborative event with K-1, known as "ReBOOT", and will be the first Quintet event after a two-year hiatus.
The original four teams competing would represent Polaris, 10th Planet Jiu Jitsu, New Wave Jiu Jitsu, and Kazushi Sakuraba. However, Team New Wave Jiu Jitsu withdrew from the event on July 28, 2023. They were replaced by B-Team Jiu-Jitsu the following day.
Quintet 4 was streamed on FloGrappling as part of a new streaming deal, making it the first event to not be streamed on UFC Fight Pass. The event will also stream globally on DAZN. The B-Team Bulls won the event. Craig Jones was awarded 'Submission of the Year' at the JitsMagazine BJJ Awards 2023 for the Toehold he submitted Richie Martinez with in the final match.
Quintet 5
QUINTET.5 (also known as Quintet 5) was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on October 23, 2025, at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was the promotion's first event in the Middle East and its first since Quintet 4 in 2023, and was staged with regional promoter Tarek Suleiman.
Unlike previous editions, the four teams were fronted by captains drawn from PRIDE-era mixed martial arts: Kazushi Sakuraba, Renzo Gracie, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Bob Sapp, who coached rather than competed. Twenty-six athletes appeared on the card in total, with three individual super-fights supporting the four-team tournament. Each team was required to weigh in under a combined limit of 430 kg. Heel hooks were made legal for the first time.
The event was streamed on TrillerTV. Team Nogueira Dubai won the tournament, defeating Team Saku Japan 2–1 in the final after Pouya Rahmani submitted Daisuke Nakamura with a kimura in the closing seconds.
Quintet 6
QUINTET.6 (also known as Quintet 6 or A FESTIVAL OF PEACE QUINTET.6) was a team grappling survival event held by Quintet on July 25, 2026, at the Kyu Butokuden in Kyoto, Japan. It was the first professional combat sports event staged at the venue, a designated Important Cultural Property.
Unlike Quintet 5, the card was contested by four Japanese and South Korean teams without celebrity captains, each led by an athlete competing on the night. The tournament was fought under a combined team weight limit of 400 kg, and Quintet announced that men's competition would henceforth be divided into three categories: Heavy Weight (430 kg), Middle Weight (400 kg) and Light Weight (360 kg).
Team K-TOP BJJ was renamed TEAM INSPIRE on July 2, 2026 following a sponsorship agreement, and Craig Hutchison withdrew from TEAM NINJA through injury, with Eiki Suzuki announced as his replacement on July 16.
The event was streamed domestically on Lemino. TEAM Iwamoto Adventures won the tournament on their debut, defeating TEAM NINJA in the final. Hidehiko Yoshida performed a judo demonstration at the venue.